Not so deep but surely interesting thoughts on this May evening

I get why my Granddad is confused. Facebook and Twitter are all over the news. Sometimes they’re in articles about the new privacy policies or fads that are causing a ruckus. Most of the time they are mentioned at the end of stories. “You can also find them on Twitter and Facebook,” the reporter says. If I didn’t know what either of those were I’d probably Google it or check out Wikipedia. But what about Granddad? I’m sure he’s not the only old guy who watches the news. What about the other folks who don’t know what this new media is?

It’s been about a year since I started studying journalism here at the U of O. I’m still baffled by the changes in media. Sure, there are still jobs in journalism. But things are changing so fast and sometimes so slow that it’s hard to know exactly where to look.

On the other hand, it’s pretty rad that new media is taking over the world. I love that social media is becoming so strong. People are more aware of what things are happening in the world. They engage in the conversations. What could be wrong with that?

I’m not quite sure what the future of journalism is gonna look like. I’m not positive what my future will look like and even if I’m going to be working in journalism. We’ll see. There’s no sense in getting ahead of ourselves.

going native

I’m being taught that one of the cardinal rules of journalism is to not “go native.” I don’t know how I feel about this. I feel that as a journalist (one who journals), I have the responsibility to live and truly understand the people I write about.

When I was in Ukraine, Peace Corps encouraged us to join in the culture, to join in the fun, if you will. Hanging out with the Ukrainians, picking up their lingo and eating their food is part of what made the experience so awesome.

Actually, I never was able to go truly native. Sure I drank some of their vodka and swam in their waters, but parts of the culture I could never really embrace. For one, I couldn’t get into their clothing styles. Tight jeans and shiny silver belts didn’t exactly look good on me. My friend, Sheryl, could pull it off. She’d wear her shuba (fur coat), winter boots, and shiny belt to the disco every Friday and Saturday. She basically became a true Ukrainian. And then she married one.

I’m not really sure where I’m going to end up after I finish my masters in journalism. I’m okay with this, though. I do know that I fully plan to experience life and “go native” in some respects. I will travel. And I’ll get to know what the cultures are like. Maybe that’s not truly going native, but you know… there are just too many rules in journalism.